The Finance Professionals' Post educates readers in the finance and banking sectors on the forces that shape their business. The FPP is a publication of the New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA).

05/27/2014

Taking a Forward-Looking Approach to Your Career

Throughout my early career, I spent a lot of time and effort trying to gain an understanding of my strengths and weaknesses based on past experiences. I probed into how my background had shaped who I was and what I valued. I’m not sure who said it first, but the popular quote goes something like this: “We are the sum total of our experiences.” Perhaps that’s true, but as I’ve progressed through my career, I’ve realized that it is far more productive instead to think of yourself as the sum total of your future experiences. Let me illustrate exactly what I mean by sharing a moment in my career that helped me understand the value of a forward-looking approach.